Former Manchester United star Gary Neville: 'We did eye muscle warm-ups every day'

EYE TRAINING: Neville reveals him and the rest of his team warmed up their eyes before every match

Former skipper Gary Neville revealed the Reds were coached to warm up their eye muscles before every match.

The secret training sessions were led by vision specialist Prof Gail Stephenson. TV pundit Neville, 40, described her as a “leader in her field”.

He said: “Along with other players I did eye muscle warm-ups every day and pre-match because of her.”

Sir Alex Ferguson brought her in to help his players focus.

She famously got him to ditch their grey kit in a game claiming the players could not see each other properly. And she also worked with former mid- fielder Paul Scholes, 40, when he was sidelined by eyesight problems in 2006.

The sight expert died recently after a short illness. United’s stars wore black armbands in her honour on their US tour.

Executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: “Gail was one of the leading vision scientists. Her expertise, positive attitude and warm personality will be missed.’’